


City Lights

by xxnymp



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Betty Cooper Loves Jughead Jones, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Jughead Jones Loves Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones Needs a Hug, Jughead Jones is sick, Love at First Sight, Lung Cancer, Mutual Pining, Protective Betty Cooper, Single Mom Alice Cooper, Single Mom Gladys Jones, Virgin Betty Cooper, Virgin Jughead Jones
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:47:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25013419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxnymp/pseuds/xxnymp
Summary: Jughead Jones has lung cancer since he can first remember, that's why his mom, Gladys, doesn't see anything past his sickness, making him believe that perhaps that's all he actually is. Betty Cooper shows him the contrary.
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 7
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

"Do I really have to go?" Betty mumbled from under the covers where she was hiding from her mom's calls. 

"Yes Elizabeth, you do!" Alice yelled showing up at the door, buttoning up her perfectly ironed blouse. That made the blonde, clearly sleepy girl sit up with an annoyed face.

"Why?! It's just a stupid event, I haven't missed it once, I'm not gonna die if I get a break from this town's bullshit for once in my life! Come on mom, I've been studying all night..." She said, faking a yawn. 

"First of, I would watch my langague if I were you! And second, it's not a stupid event, Elizabeth! It is important for Riverdale AND for me. Besides, the quicker you get ready and we head out, the quicker it will be over." Alice came into the room and looked at herself on Betty's heart shapped mirror, making her roll her esmerald green eyes. 

The stupid, annual event she was being obligated to go was Riverdale's anniversary. She hasn't missed it once since she was born in the town, and never complained about going either, until she hit 13... Alice wouldn't allow her to swim in the river anymore, claiming she was a grown woman now and shouldn't do such a thing. So ever since, the idea of going there and watching old people eat and talk makes Betty bite her nails. 

Giving up, Betty gets off bed and heads to the bathroom, purposefully slamming the door. She looked at herself in the mirror and rolled her eyes at her reflection, not slightly ready for what the day would bring... 

Ending up with a summer dress and usual ponytail tight in her head, she heads downstairs finding her mom already in the car. She grabs a toast from the plate and leaves the house. 

In the car, Betty tries her best to show Alice how unhappy she actually is... She sighs loudly, she looks out of the window and makes as much noise with her foot hiting the floor as she possibly can, trying to get the older woman's attention, it didn't really work as Alice simply turned the radio volume up and sang along with the annoying country music playing, so again, the ponytail princess ended up being only more annoyed. 

When they got there, Betty could see through the conner of her eyes how big her mom's smile grew, and that only made her roll her eyes for what seemed like the 10th time that morning. 

"Try and enjoy yourself, Elizabeth, it will be cool! Remember how you used to like it when you were younger?" Alice said turning turning to look at Betty.

"Oh yeah!" Betty started faking a excited tone of voice. "You mean before you cruelly, for no reason, decide to cut me off from doing the only fun thing here? You'll have your old, boring friends, it'll be just me and the food table just like the last few years." She complained, mumbling the last part. 

"Gosh... That's why you don't have any friends to come with you!" 

"I wouldn't bring them here anyways!" 

With one last sigh and a brush from her hand on her perfect hair, Alice leaves the car and runs to her friends, hugging and kissing each other as if they hadn't seen each other the day before... That, once again, makes Betty roll her eyes. She was so sick and tired of seeing the same people and having the same routine everyday. She was tired of being trapped inside this boring, lifeless town. 

She was pulled of her thought by Alice's voice calling for her name again, trying to spot her first, Betty finds her with a, surpringly, unknown woman by her side. She wore a leather jacket and her hair was down in black waves, a smile almost as big as Alice's in her face, she was pretty. 

"Come here now please!" Alice's once again pulls her from her thoughts and with a sigh, she leaves the car, faking a smiles as she gets closer to the two smiling woman. 

"Yes?"

"Hello there!" The unknown woman replies before Alice can. 

"Gladys this is my daughter Elizabeth! Elizabeth, that is my new friend, Gladys Jones. She is new in the town, and as she was telling me, she has a boy around your age so imagine how fun..." Alice's voice drifts off as Betty gets distracted by something on the other side of the river, not something, someone. A mysterious boy watching at them. "Elizabeth!" Her mom's voice gets her attention back again, making her sigh as she turns her head back to the smiling woman. 

"Yeah, yeah, what? Sorry..." She apologises. 

With a sigh, Alice continues... 

"Gladys was telling me about a son around your age that she would like you to meet!" 

"Mom..." Betty sighs, ready to start her speech of how she doesn't like meeting new people, but gets interrupted again.

"He is a little reserve but an amazing boy, I promise!" Gladys says with her stupid excited smile, which makes Betty smile back and nods in agreement. "Great! He is just..." She starts but drifts off as she looks around probably looking for the son. "I will find him, don't move!" She says giving an awkward giggle and leaves, whispering-yelling for her son. That's when Betty takes advantage to look back to the other side of the river, only to find the trees looking back at her.


	2. Chapter 2

"Jughead, for God's sakes what the hell are you doing still in bed?!" Gladys came in yelling and opening the curtains, sending away all the darkness of Jughead's room, which made him bring the blanket over his head, careful not to end up taking his CPAP mask off. 

"Oh mom come on, sleeping combat cancer, remember?" He quoted the Doctor's words with a sleepy voice.

"Jughead I've already told you to stop saying this things. You know I don't like it, so get the hell up before I make you!" She said pointing at him and leaving the room.

With a groan, the lazy boy switched masks, taking off his CPAP and quickly hooking himself up with the portable oxygen. Going to the bathroom he was careful while washing his face and cleaning his teeth.. When done, he went back to his room and found his clothes already on the bed, chosen by Gladys. He sighed. It's been like this ever since he can first remember... Gladys treating him like he's a baby who can't do anything by himself, and if he was going to be honest, that was the worst part of being a sick kid. That's all people see of you. Your sickness.

Choosing not to call his mom to talk about how he is feeling for the 10th time, he decides just to put those clothes on, only adding his favourite beanie on top of his head. It was a gift from his little sister, the only thing he had to remember himself of her. Shaking the sad thoughts away, he took his backpack, which he carried the oxygen with, and went down the stairs slowly. He hated that even though his mom only sees his sickness of him, she still choose a house with those stupid gigantic stairs, making him run out of breath in less than 4 steps. 

He sat down on the first chair he could, trying to match his heavy breath with his mom's, watching how her back was going up and down.

"You okay buddy?" She asked turning around and setting his plate in front of him.

"Yep, just... the stairs, you know." he answered in a whisper, slightly panting, but keeping his calm as he knew that if he showed any struggle to breathe, he'd be in the hospital in no time. When he finally catch his breath, he started eating.

"You're ready?" His mom asked touching his back as he ate the last bacon on the plate. He nodded his answer and stood up, getting in the car and looking out the window as they drove in complete silence, only the song on the radio joining.

They were going to their first event in this new little town after only short months of living in it. He sighed silently as his brain automatically flew back to the reason why they moved in the first place... One more time, he shook his sad thoughts away and focused on his mom's hums to whatever song that was playing.

When they finally arrived he told his mom he'd join her in a sec and Gladys quickly left the car.

Jughead sighed glaring at his backpack... It would be nice to at least have a sickness that didn't scream "I'M SICK" like the one he has. Wherever he goes, people'd look at his cannula and he could feel their pity right on his back, it was one of the worst feelings he could feel, only losing to the awful lack of deep breaths. He really didn't want people in this town, which was supposed to be a "starting over" situation, to feel sorry for him, so he slowly took the cannula off his nose and started breathing really slowly, almost like he was having a conversation with his lungs, begging them silently to work, even if one hundred times slower.

He left the car and with slow steps, he went straight to the other side of the river knowing no one would be there, only breathing up was already a big challenge for him in that situation, the last thing he needed was to talk to people.

From where he was standing, he could see a car parking across his mom's and after a tall middle-aged blonde woman left it, a young girl, that even with a bored expression looked beautiful, joined her. His breath caught up in his throat when the girl looked right back at him, his lungs hurting as he struggled to keep breathing without breaking the eye contact with her, he just couldn't look away... Within seconds, his breath started failling and he knew he needed the stupid oxygen or else he would stop breathing, so taking advantage of the girl's distraction, he went back to the car, slowly and quietly, without being noticed.

He finally put back his nose tube and took the deepest breath he could, his lungs screaming for help while they desperately tried to work.

Minutes later, he cursed under his breath as he watched Gladys looking around for something and he was sure it was him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for any gramatical mistake, English is not my first language, but I hope you guys understood and liked the story! More to come!


	3. Chapter 3

Gladys found Jughead sitting in the car, he seemed annoyed by something she couldn't quite figure out what, so she just approaches him and knocks on the car window.

"What?" He mumbles when the window is low enough to let only his eyes peck out of it, covering his intubated nose from the view of the curious people outside.

"What the hell are you doing here? We're literally having a festival out there!"

"Is no news I don't like crowds, mom... Don't even know why the fuck you brought me here in the first place" He says, looking away from his mother, searching in the crowd for nothing in specificities but deep down he knows what he was actually looking for. Or who. 

"I brought you here to make friends! And I would really appreciate if you were a little more grateful about that!" 

"Make friends with who?! All of those super fun, young people?!" He said sarcastically while pointing to all the middle-aged people in the place. 

"For God's sakes Jughead! We're all so old and yet we're way more mind opened than you young people nowadays!" Gladys said trying to keep her voice down, not to drag attention for her to-be-friends.

Jughead only sighed, ready to close the window again but his mom's "Don't you dare" glare stopped him. 

"I want you to meet someone." She said, suddenly going back to being all excited and smiley. 

"Mom... I don't wanna meet more old people, I just feel old enough for being more close to death than anyone else at my age" He says casually and only received his mom's glare again, before she ignored his mention of death and went back to talking. 

"It's my new friend's daughter, seems to be around your age, maybe some years older... Such a beautiful, bright young girl." She said smiling. 

Jughead was used to it, whenever he mentions death, Gladys seems to completely shut that down and talk as if he never said anything. He already tried, multiple times, to talk about the in his case, inevitable, but she always either breakdown in front of him or leaves, as if he was never there. He could understand his mom's fear of losing him. They had both lost his dad and little sister, and now, if he couldn't keep fighting the one thing that could make him hurt his mom the most, she'd lose him too. 

"Great, mom." He replied and faked a smile, deciding not to bring her down with his depressing sense of humor. "Lead the way" 

Gladys turned with a big smile on her face and started walking towards whoever it was she wanted him to meet, he was ready to leave the car when his oxygen bag reminded him of what he'd have to go through if he left carrying it, all the looks of pity and guilty... he just didn't want to go through that, he wanted to be more than his sickness even if only for today; so once again, he took the deepest breath his lungs could take and slowly removed the cannula from his nose.

His steps were slow as he followed his mom, way behind her, praying to whoever was watching not to let her notice the lack of his equipment. 

"Alice, Elizabeth" He heard Gladys start. 

"Betty.." He also heard someone correct her. 

"Alice, Betty..." She chuckles and waited for Jughead to reach them before continuing, his eyes were glued on the floor as he focused on his breath. "I want you to meet my boy, Jughead!" Gladys said almost too excitedly.

Jug looked up to give the girls a polite smile, and the little breath left in his lungs were sucked away from him as his eyes locked with the girl that he couldn't keep his eyes off minutes earlier. 

It was her. 

Suddenly his mother and the other woman, Alice from what he had heard, conversation were only a muffled background as he watched her. 

She had the most sweet, beautiful smile printed on her lips and he swore he could see the glow in her emerald green eyes as she looked at him, looking almost as happy and shocked as him. 

He got pulled away from his admiration when he heard his mom in the edge of telling the other woman what he had, which made his stomach clenches. 

Again, his mom ready to make other people see him as his sickness only. He couldn't do it again, that was basically one of the reasons they had to move from their old home anyways. 

"My Jug is a really strong boy... He's been diagno-" 

"Yeah!" He all but yelled, shoving his hand in front of the beautiful girl, "It's really nice to meet you. I'm Jughead" He repeated, desperate to only make his mom stop talking. 

"Betty," She gave him one of her breathtaking smiles again, shaking his hand and he simply didn't want to let go of it anymore.

"Alright so, Betty, Gladys was just telling me how they are new to town so why don't you go show Jug-head around?" Alice said with a smile almost as big as Gladys' "It is a beautiful place, if you like going on walks or a quiet place to sit and just chill, this is definitely the one to you!"

"I'd love to" Betty said, nodding at her mom before turning back to Jughead "Only if you want, Jug" she mimicked what Gladys had called him moments earlier and he decided that was all he wanted to hear her say. 

"No, yeah, definitely!" Jughead said with a smile, nodding his head. 

When they started walking he wondered briefly if that hadn't been a stupid idea. A guy at his age, walking with a beautiful girl? Sounded amazing, but not when the guy had his lungs fighting against him.

He closed his eyes for brief seconds, trying to figure what he was going to say to excuse himself, but then she started talking, and he lost his ability to care about himself. Or anything, but the sound of her voice. 

"So, Jughead..." she laughed and shook her head "I actually have no idea what to say I'm just don't want this to be awkward" She giggled again and he couldn't help but grin back. 

"Maybe we could get to know each other a little better somehow?" 

"Yeah... Like asking each other questions and stuff?" She smiled his way and he chuckled, nodding his head. 

"here, I'll go first. Hm... Tell me something you like to do" He suggested.

"I love reading and writing and painting..." she says the last one silently, looking down and a shy smile playing on her lips and he noticed some blush growing on her cheeks, that made him smile. 

"You're blushing because you paint?" he chuckled. 

"I don't usually let people know I paint" she shrugs.

"Really? Why?" He asked. 

"My turn now, Jug-head" she said giggling but stopped when Jughead stopped walking. "You okay?" 

"Fine... Ask away. Do you mind if we just sit down for a bit?" He asked but didn't wait for her answer as he sat down on the floor. 

"Okay, well..." Betty continued, sitting down next to him. "Do you... have a girlfriend?" she asked slowly and her smile slowly faded when all she got was a shake of his head in response, but she also couldn't help but notice how his lips were slowly losing its colour, turning into a sad gray blue. "are you okay?" she asked and again only got a nod of his head in response but he got up this time. 

"I just need to go back, okay?" He said slowly and started walking back. 

Betty knew something was wrong... Maybe he felt offended when she asked him about his romantic life or maybe she made him remind of his newly ex? She didn't know what she could've possibly done to upset him but she just closed her eyes and let out a muttered "fuck".

Meanwhile, Jughead finally got to his car, breathing heavily and clinging to his shirt as if it was going to give his lungs any kind of quickness to go back to normal. There were long minutes with his head down, silently begging for his lungs to behave, before they finally did. 

He lifted his head up against the seat, his eyes tightly closed as all the curse words he knew went through his brain. He acted like an asshole back there and probably lost the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, one more thing his sickness took away from him. 

Rage rushed through him and he punched the panel of the car in front of him. Leaning his head back down.


	4. Chapter 4

When Betty woke up the next morning, the first thing she that crossed her mind was Jughead, and how weird he had acted in the last few minutes. She also wondered briefly if it was in fact because of her insensitive "Girlfriend" question but at the same time, he didn't seem to mind answering to that at all. She didn't know what could've possibly gone wrong but she also knew herself too well to know she wasn't going to give up until she knew what had happened inside his head.

With a sigh, she pulled the covers off her and got up, doing her usual morning routine before heading downstairs to the kitchen, where her mom was already placing the breakfast table. 

"Morning mom." she said sitting down.

"Good morning, Elizabeth." Alice replied setting a plate of bacon in front of her, which she gratefully took a bite off. 

"Hey, mom?" 

"Yes?"

"I was wondering... Did you get Ms. Jones' phone number from yesterday?" 

"Yes I did." Alice started with a knowing smirk. "Why? Did you happen to enjoy yourself yesterday?" She continued, giving the blonde her usual 'I told you' look. 

With a sigh and a slight blush creeping out her cheeks, Betty shrugged. "Could you give it to me?" Alice gazed at her and crossed her arms over her chest and only with that body language, Betty knew exactly what she wanted to hear. "Yes, mom. I had a nice time yesterday, I made a friend and I want to keep in contact with him. Can you just give me the number now?" 

Alice let out a satisfied laugh and nodded her head towards her phone. "You know how bad I am with technology just use my phone or send it to yours." 

Biting off a toast, Betty got up and took her mom's phone from the counter, mumbling a quick 'Thanks' before heading upstairs to her room, leaving Alice alone with a grin on her lips. It was the first time she was seeing her daughter showing interest on a boy, or a person in general, and she hopped with all her Owl Mom heart, that she'd finally find the happiness that she wasn't able to give her. She sighed happily as the most amazing scenario went through her head.

Upstairs in her room, Betty talked to herself, training how the conversation would go, or how she wanted it to go. 

When she finally had enough courage to actually deal and call the number, she held her breath as she heard someone pick up and let it out again when Gladys' voice filled her ears. 

"Hello?"

"Hi, Ms. Jones, it's Betty, Betty Cooper, I don't if you remember me from yesterday?" she bit her nail tips. 

"Betty! Of course I remember, I'm not that old." She joked laughing before continuing. "What do I owe the pleasure?" Betty could hear the smile in her voice and it made her feel a little more comfortable, to know she wasn't bothering. 

"Uh, I was wondering... Could I talk to your son real quick? I mean, he doesn't have to if he doesn't want to, I just wanted to check in?" She added quickly, closing her eyes at her unnecessary awkwardness.

"Jughead? Hah! No, I'm sure he'll be more than happy you called! I'll go get him." Gladys said and Betty smiled, she seemed to be a fun woman to spend time with. 

She heard Gladys' voice get further from the phone as she called for Jughead's name, who only replied a 'What' with a clearly sleepy, grumpy voice that made her bite her lips. 

"Hello?" He said from the other side and she sucked on a breath. What the hell was wrong with her? It was just a phone call with a friend she met just yesterday! Then why was she feeling all blushy and bothered? 

"Jughead, hey! It's Betty, from yesterday..." She said casually but mentally hoping he'd remember her and smiling brightly when he did.

"Betty, hey!" He said a little too excited, which made his voice crack a little and she muffled a giggle when he cleared his throat. "I mean, hello. What's up?" 

She smiled before answering. "Nothing, I just... I just wanted to know if you were okay? You didn't seem really well when you left and I got a little worried about you..." 

"Oh no. I was definitely fine just a little dizzy thats all..." He said and before she could answer he was quick to change the subject. "You sure you just called to know if I'm okay or was it because you missed me?" She heard his teasing tone and widened her eyes, looking for her mental script of the talk and noticing she was NOT ready for that.

"No! Of course not. I mean... Not of course not because I did miss you but..." Jug could hear her getting worked up and chuckled softly, the sound making her bite her lips again.

"I'm just messing with you Betty." He paused. "But I couldn't stop thinking about you..." he said and she could hear the insurance in his voice, which made her smile softly as she laid back in her bed and stared at the ceiling. 

"I couldn't stop thinking about you either..." She whispered, blushing. She was glad he couldn't see her but at the same time she wanted to see him.

They stayed in a comfortable silence for some minutes before he spoke again. 

"Hey, we didn't get to finish our game from yesterday. It was my turn if I remember correctly"

"That's right." She giggled.

"Okay, so my big question is... do you have a boyfriend?" He asked, his voice a little unsure again.

"No, I don't." She replied with a smile as he mimicked her question from the day before. "Why'd ask?" she wanted to know, making sure to ask it with the best teasing tone she could pull up with, which made him chuckle. 

"Well, because if you did have a boyfriend it would make it a little harder for me to ask you out." He replied and she felt her stomach tighten like she was going down a roller coaster. 

"Is this what you're doing right now?" She asked with a smile, hating how hoarse her voice sounded.

"Maybe...." She could sense his nervousness and wondered if hers was just as obvious as his.

"Like on a date?" she asked. 

"If you want" he replied.

"Would you want that?" 

"Maybe... Do you?"

"Maybe..." 

They both chuckled and silence came back and she was glad it didn't make anything awkward. 

"So, what do you say? You and me out on a 'non-date date' night?" he asked again, chuckling softly and she joined him.

"I'd love to go on a 'non-date date' with you" she smiled. 

"Great. That's really, really good to hear." he replied, and despite his trying to hide, she could hear the bit of relief in his voice and that made her smile even more. "Saturday at seven?" he asked.

"See you on Saturday at seven." 

"Sweet, bye Betts." He said and she smiled at the nickname. 

"Bye, Jug." She said back and hung up the phone, holding it tightly to her chest. 

It was weird the mix of feelings she felt when she talked to him, specially since they've only known each other for such a short time, but as new as this was for her and probably him as well it was too good of a feeling to back up now. 

Her own phone beeped this time and when she took she smiled as she saw Veronica's message pop up on the screen, she couldn't wait to tell her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for any gramatical mistake, English is not my first language, but I hope you guys understood and liked the story! More to come!

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise for any gramatical mistake, English is not my first language, but I hope you guys understood and liked the story! More to come!


End file.
